Credit Suisse Group AG is reducing some jobs at its cash-equities business, a person with knowledge of the matter said, as the Swiss bank extends cuts to an area it previously earmarked for growth.
The bank, led by Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam, has eliminated about 20 jobs in cash equities, the person said, declining to be named because the matter is private. Employees in London, Dubai and South Africa are among those affected, according to the person, adding that the cuts were motivated by cost pressures and adverse market conditions. A spokesman in London for Credit Suisse declined to comment.
While Credit Suisse accelerated cost cuts in March after unexpected losses on trading positions, the lender singled out cash equities as one of the businesses it was seeking to expand. The unit is part of the bank’s trading division, known as global markets, which has borne the brunt of this year’s bloodletting and is led by Brian Chin.
Thiam said last month that the bank had achieved 4,800 of 6,000 job cuts planned this year, part of an overhaul to free up capital and expand its wealth management business. The Zurich-based bank is also eliminating jobs at its investment banking and capital markets unit, another person familiar with the matter said, without elaborating.
Trading in equities across the market remained “muted” in the third quarter, while revenues in fixed income showed “positive trends,” analysts at Bernstein led by Chirantan Barua said in a note Wednesday, referring to results published by U.S. investment banks this month. Revenue from equities at Credit Suisse will drop 15 percent compared with the second quarter, according to their estimates. Bernstein has an under-perform rating on the stock.
Credit Suisse is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings on Nov. 3.
--With assistance from Jan-Henrik Förster To contact the reporters on this story: Macarena Munoz in Madrid at mmunoz39@bloomberg.net, Jeffrey Vögeli in Zurich at jvogeli@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simone Meier at smeier@bloomberg.net, Cindy Roberts
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